IMPORTANT: THERE IS A PART OF THIS CHAPTER THAT I FELT MAY PERHAPS TRIGGER PEOPLE SO I HAVE PUT IT IN BOLD AND ITALICS. I DON'T WISH TO UPSET ANYONE. (UNWANTED TOUCHING, THOUGH NOTHING SEXUAL) IF YOU FEEL LIKE I'VE MISSED OUT ON ANYTHING THAT MAY TRIGGER OTHERS PLEASE DONT HESITATE TO TELL ME.

Sorry for any mistakes I've missed. A huge thank you to everyone that left me a little review for the last chapter. Please do leave me more because they really do encourage me to continue. I'm pretty sure I say this every chapter, but truly it does.

I don't own, only Emily and any oc's.

Whilst Emily descended from her room, someone else was ascending to the living room. Judging by the fact she could see the boys in the living room and could hear Mrs Hudson pottering around in the kitchen, they had a visitor.

She sincerely hoped it wasn't a potential client as she was still in her pyjamas.

"Good morning Emily." Mycroft met her on the landing.

"Morning Mycroft." She stifled a yawn. "Do you want a drink?" She dragged her bare feet into the kitchen.

"That's quite alright, thankyou dear. How was your day off?"

Emily raised a hand to the top of her head. It still felt tender. "Eventful. Morning Mrs H."

"Morning love. There's a tea just poured waiting for you by the kettle. Do you want breakfast? Can I make you something?" Emily hesitated and watched the older Holmes brother head into the living room, presumably to annoy his brother. Mrs Hudson rested a hand on the blonde's arm. "What do you fancy?"

"I wouldn't want to put you out?"

"What do you want to eat Emily?"

"I don't think I've got time - "

"She'll have a cheese on toast Mrs Hudson." John shouted.

"But I'll be late."

"For once you're actually on time." Sherlock commented.

"For once." John made sure to emphasise those words.

"Yeah yeah." Emily grumbled with another roll of her eyes. She went to help her landlady but was shoved from the kitchen along with her cup of tea.

"Go and get dressed." Mrs Hudson ordered.

"I might get cheese down me." She answered offhandedly.

"That wouldn't surprise me."

"Everyone's so rude this morning." She commented, walking over to take the seat opposite Sherlock, not realising she was being rude herself and interrupting a conversation.

"The photographs are perfectly safe." Sherlock informed his brother not even glancing up from his newspaper, ignoring the blonde's comment.

"In the hands of a fugitive sex worker." Mycroft commented.

Emily rested her elbow on the table and her cheek in the palm of her hand, reading the headlines on the paper she could see opposite her.

"She's not interested in blackmail. She wants...protection for some reason. I take it you've stood down the police investigation into the shooting at her house?"

"How can we do anything while she has the photographs? Our hands are tied."

"She'd applaud your choice of words. You see how this works: that camera phone is her "Get out of jail free" card. You have to leave her alone. Treat her like royalty, Mycroft."

"Though not the way she treats royalty." Emily shared a smile with Sherlock at John's words just as a noise erupted. Emily shared a confused look with John. "What was that?" He asked for the pair of them.

Sherlock attempted to appear nonchalant. "Text." He answered plainly.

"That's not what a text alert usually sounds like." Emily teased.

"But what was that noise?"

The Detective stood and went to pick up his phone as an understanding rushed through Emily's mind. "I've added a little something to his phone. Do you think he'll like it?" While the others may have not been enjoying it, Emily very much enjoyed the reaction it was getting.

"Did you know there were other people after her too, Mycroft, before you sent the three of us in there? CIA-trained killers, at an excellent guess." He came back to his seat, John turning briefly to look at Mycroft.

"Yeah, thanks for that, Mycroft." Emily absentmindedly rubbed the top of her head but decided against saying anything to the man stood behind her.

The footfalls of Mrs Hudson coming into the room sounded. Evidently, Emily was not the only one being waited on by their landlady. (Not their housekeeper.) "It's a disgrace, sending your little brother into danger like that. Family is all we have in the end, Mycroft Holmes." Her voice was stern as she served the younger Holmes his breakfast.

"Oh, shut up, Mrs Hudson."

Sherlock was furious. "MYCROFT!"

John too. "OI!"

Emily, her belly grumbling and eyes shutting, wasn't exactly impressed herself but simply turned to look round and send a glare at the man.

Only after taking in the four glaring faces before him did he look back at Mrs Hudson repentantly. "Apologies."

"Thank you." Mrs Hudson turned to move away.

"Though do, in fact, shut up." Emily rolled her eyes at Sherlock's words. He sent her a playful glare back but she was in no mood to join in. She glanced down at his plate of food and back to the woman who had reached the kitchen.

"Only be a few minutes love." Mrs Hudson informed her when she caught the longing look Emily sent to the plate. The older woman turned away to continue with Emily's breakfast but paused when Sherlock's phone made the noise again. "Ooh. It's a bit rude, that noise, isn't it?"

"Hmm, wonder where it's come from?" Emily pretended to study her nails, ignoring the roll of Sherlock's eyes as he pressed the button to read the latest message.

"There's nothing you can do and nothing she will do as far as I can see." Sherlock glanced at his phone as he spoke.

"I can put maximum surveillance on her."

"Why bother? You can follow her on Twitter. I believe her user name is "TheWhipHand." "

Emily nodded in confirmation. "She followed me this morning, so I followed her back." She sent a grin over her shoulder to Mycroft.

"Yes. Most amusing." He retrieved his phone from his pocket as it rung. "'Scuse me." He proceeded to walk out into the hall for the tiniest hint of privacy. "Hello."

"Why does your phone make that noise?" John asked after a moment's silence. Though judging by his tone, Emily gathered he already knew the answer.

"What noise?" Sherlock attempted to avoid the question and Emily bit her lip to stop a giggle escaping. She suddenly found herself pleased she had got up on time and wasn't having to rush all over the place.

"That noise – the one it just made."

"It's a text alert. It means I've got a text."

"I wonder who from." The blonde muttered to herself, though she was ignored.

"Hmm. Your texts don't usually make that noise."

"Well, somebody got hold of the phone and apparently, as a joke, personalised their text alert noise."

"I wonder who."

"Your wonderings will get you nowhere in life." Sherlock informed her, watching her over the top of his newspaper.

"Maybe not, but it's fun to tease." She waggled her eyebrows at him. Due to the newspaper, she missed the smirk he wore at her actions.

"Hmm. So every time they text you..." Right on cue, as John almost finished his sentence, the phone went off again.

"It would seem so."

"Could you turn that phone down a bit? At my time of life, it's..." Mrs Hudson requested from the kitchen.

Sherlock went back to reading his paper, John too was reading his own newspaper and Emily had begun to massage her temples where she could feel a headache coming on.

"I'm wondering who could have got hold of your phone, because it would have been in your coat, wouldn't it?"

This time, the paper raised to cover the Detectives face completely. Emily wondered if he could even read it, he was holding it so close to his face. "I'll leave you to your deductions."

John smiled and shared it briefly with Emily. "We're not stupid, you know."

"Where do you get that idea?"

"Head still hurting?" Emily nodded at the Doctor's question. "Your scalp or actual headache?"

"Why not both?"

"Are you stressing over work?"

"Mhmm." Emily wanted to talk no more about the dreaded day and rested her head down on the table, though whether she was in a sulk or just resting her head she couldn't decide. Probably both.

"Everything will be fine." John went to pat her hair before thinking better of it and resting a hand on her arm instead, rubbing her skin with his thumb.

"Sit up Emily." Mrs Hudson instructed, once more coming into the living room with a plate of food. "Breakfast is ready."

She did as she was told. "Thankyou." She mumbled from behind a curtain of hair. Gently, so as not to make her headache worse, she flicked it away from her face and dug in. It tasted wonderful, and the warmth of it made her feel slightly better. She looked over at Sherlock across from her to find him watching her over the top of his newspaper.

She raised an eyebrow, but he quickly looked away. She continued to watch him and when she noticed him flicker his gaze to her every now and then, she chewed with her mouth open. Only when Sherlock pulled a disgusted face did she smile and go back to eating like an adult.

"Bond Air is go, that's decided. Check with the Coventry lot. Talk later." Mycroft uttered before entering the room again, gaining the attention of the younger Holmes brother, but making Emily think of Daniel Craig and his handsome face.

"What else does she have?" Emily only looked away for a split second but that was all it took for her a blob of cheese to fall from the toast in her hand onto her pyjama shorts.

"Shit." She hissed, though thankful it wasn't two inches further down or the hot cheese would have fallen on her skin.

Sherlock closed his newspaper noisily. "Irene Adler. The Americans wouldn't be interested in her for a couple of compromising photographs. There's more." He stood, grabbing a tissue from the box on the coffee table and handed it over to the blonde without even looking. Too focused on his older brother.

"Thanks." Emily muttered, John watched her to make sure she was alright but they were both listening to the brothers.

"Much more. Something big's coming, isn't it?"

Emily had to wonder why Sherlock actually cared, but instantly wished she hadn't had that thought. It would only lead her down a rabbit hole of thoughts and quite frankly she wanted her headache gone, not to get worse.

"Irene Adler is no longer any concern of yours. From now on you will stay out of this." Good, Emily thought to herself.

"Oh, will I?"

"Yes, Sherlock...you will." Emily tried very hard not to bite into her toast loudly, but failed all the same. Apparently, the noise managed to snap the Holmes brothers out of their staring competition as Sherlock moved away. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a long and arduous apology to make to a very old friend."

Sherlock, now with violin at the ready, turned back to his brother. "Do give her my love." With that, the Detective began playing 'God Save The Queen'.

Emily jumped at the hand that landed on her shoulder. "Apologies my dear, but if I were to say this any further away from you, I fear you won't hear it." Emily smiled, but swivelled her head around as much as she could to look at Mycroft from the corner of her eye. He was bent forwards slightly so he could talk to her. "He has been warned, but should Roid give you any trouble, any at all, you have my number. Please feel free to call me."

"Thankyou."

"You're quite welcome my dear." With one last disdainful look at his younger brother, Mycroft vacated the room, Sherlock following along behind him and coming back to the window when the sound of footsteps had left the building.

As Sherlock finished his piece, Emily stuffed the last corner of toast into her mouth. "Suppose I should get dressed." She mumbled to herself more than anyone else.

"It does generally help yes." Sherlock informed her, beginning a new piece on the violin.

After she had changed, and listened to John's pep talk ("if he's even the slightest bit horrible, you text us or even just come home." His speech over ran to the point Emily started to worry she would be late), she focused on the music Sherlock was playing and realised it was one she hadn't heard before. She decided she rather liked the sound of it and made a mental note to ask him what it was called when she returned home. Maybe even ask him to play it for her again. She could use that to get her through the day.

Though she had tied her hair up as she had stepped into the building, there were a few stubborn strands that had escaped the hairband and kept breaking free from behind her ear, tickling the side of her face. The first time this had happened, she had gone into panic mode thinking it was a spider that had perhaps floated down from the ceiling and decided to take up residence on her face. She had quickly swatted at her cheek, relieved to discover it was just her hair and that no one had been in her office with her to witness her fright.

It was during perhaps the fiftieth time she was tucking the hair back behind her ear with one hand and controlling the mouse to her computer with the other that she heard a knock on her door and so lost in her work, absentmindedly called out a mumbled "Come in" not registering it was potentially her boss.

"Emily?" She froze in place at the sound of Roid's voice. It did not particularly sound like his usual pleasant tone he attempted to keep with her, though she did detect what she thought was relief that she was where she was supposed to be. "Might I have a word with you?"

She wasn't entirely sure why he was asking. No doubt he wouldn't actually be interested in an answer.

She didn't dare turn her chair round to face him as she had slipped her shoes off a while ago and had been sitting with her legs crossed. She was already risking his stare sitting with her body turned away from him if the way his gaze kept flicking down to her legs was anything to go by.

"It's come to my attention," This sounded like she was about to be fired. She wasn't sure if this would be a relief or not. "That the two men who escorted you out and away from your work yesterday were not actually known to you."

He knew this already, obviously, and she felt he was prolonging the conversation so he could stay in her office for that little bit longer.

"Yes. But they were taking me to a friend of mine that...required help." Would Mycroft consider her a friend? Probably not (though he was certainly one to her) but Roid didn't need to know this.

"Mhmm. Yes. This friend of yours," (He spoke the word friend as if the notion of her having one was the most preposterous idea he'd ever heard of) "Left me a message that you are not to be in any trouble today. Emily, can you explain why you thought you would be in trouble?"

Because you sulked like a toddler when I was leaving and raised hell just before I left. As much as she wanted to, she did not let these words slip past her lips.

"Well Sir, it's just that you didn't seem all too pleased when I left and I wasn't sure if you would be telling me off today."

He laughed at her response, though she felt there was no need for laughter.

"Oh, Emily." He rested a hand on her shoulder. Something she wasn't keen on under the best of circumstances unless she was comfortable with the person touching her. "No, no, no. I was merely worried for your wellbeing. Anything could have happened to you."

Definitely didn't believe that excuse.

"Thank you for your concern, but since it was Mycroft that sent them, I knew I was in no danger. If I'd thought for even a second that I could have been, well then, I wouldn't have gone with them. Was there anything else Sir? Only I have a lot of work to be getting on with."

If she had felt tense with his hand on her shoulder, it was nothing to how she felt as he let his hand trail down her arm, coming to a stop at her wrist.

"If you feel as if you are ever in any danger, I want you to come straight to me." His touch felt grimy and clearly his palm was sweating since it felt so clammy on her skin.

She would shower as soon as she got home.

"Thank you, Mr Roid, but I can look after myself." She moved her wrist out of his grip. "I really must be getting on. Need to make up for yesterday. Don't you think?"

Another knock sounded from the door and both occupants of the room turned to see who it was.

To her huge relief, Mike poked his head around the door and at the sight of her boss sent her a confused smile. "Everything alright in here?" He asked, breaking the obvious tension in the room. Clearly actually asking Emily if she was alright.

"Ah! Stamford!" Roid greeted the newcomer as if he had spent an age searching for him. "Didn't realise you were in today." He stepped away from Emily at the arrival of her friend and the blonde shuddered at his words. Had he come here because he thought Mike was off?

"Wasn't supposed to be, but Evans called in, not feeling too good today. Think he had a few too many last night. He asked if I'd cover him. Thought I'd pop down while I have a moment and ask Em if she wanted to get some lunch with me later?"

"Yes please." She answered him instantly, silently willing Roid to depart so she could chat to her friend or just get on with her work.

"Well then," Roid began "We'd best let young Emily get on with it, she's got some catching up to do what with her galivanting off with strange men." He sent her a condescending smile before carrying on. "While I'm here, have you thought much on that offer about the extra responsibilities?"

"Oh...here and there Sir."

"Well, think some more and let me know." Emily was willing to bet he would wait even if she took five years to decide.

"Of course Sir." She flashed him a smile that barely lifted the corners of her mouth and turned back to her computer hoping her boss would get the message.

"Right then, I'll leave you to it shall I?"

"Thankyou Sir." She could feel him hovering in the room as if there was more he wished to say, but Mike was still watching from the doorway. Finally, after what felt like hours, Roid left and Mike let himself in, crouching down next to her.

"Alright?" She nodded in response instead of actually speaking. "Did I miss something before I came in?"

The words were on the tip of her tongue. All she had to do was open her mouth and let them spill out. Roid has touched me in a way I am not comfortable with but at least it wasn't a sexual way. But then how long would it be before he attempted to make it sexual?

But something held her back. That something being if she told Mike, then within the hour John would know and then no doubt Sherlock would too. How long would it take Mycroft to hear of it? And Scotland Yard?

No. This wasn't anyone's business but her own. And there was no way she would allow anyone other than herself to sort out this problem.

"No. Everything's fine" She replied. This time a real smile decorating her features as she faced him. "What time are we lunching today?" She reached out to straighten her friends tie and he took the moment to gently take her hand in his own.

"Are you sure?" He didn't look convinced.

She smiled again. "I think if you hadn't entered when you had then he might have tried something." Not the whole truth, but at least some of it. "Lunch?"

"I'll come and get you at one?"

"Sounds great. We're not dining in the staff canteen though are we?"

Mike chuckled and tucked the stray strands of hair back behind her ear. "Not if you don't want to, no."

"I very much don't want to."

"I'll think of somewhere." He stood back up and patted her head affectionately. "Best let you get back to work, or have you been playing solitaire?"

"Me?" She faked outrage. "Me, play solitaire when I'm supposed to be working? No idea what you're talking about."

As she listened to Mike's footsteps fade away along with his chuckle, she retrieved her phone and decided to send a message to Sherlock.

That piece you were playing when I left, if I make it through the day, would you play it when I get home?

She didn't have to wait long for an answer. It wasn't even a minute later that she received a reply and she wondered if he had been waiting for her text.

Of course.

SH.

At least she had something to look forward to when she got home.

FB